YouTube Red
Membership

Thursday Buzz: YouTube Takes on Membership

YouTube is jumping into the membership ring by offering its own subscription option. Plus: More than half of Google searches are now from mobile.

Say hello to YouTube Red. The video-hosting juggernaut has officially launched its own subscription service for viewers looking to upgrade their YouTube experience.

YouTube Red will cost $9.99 a month ($12.99 for iOS users) and allows subscribers to nix ads, save videos for offline viewing, and run videos in the background while using other apps. Users will have full access to the new YouTube Music app and Google Play Music. Red subscribers will also be able to stream via YouTube Gaming. The service is set to launch Oct. 28.

In addition to those user-centric features, YouTube Red has promised to deliver a slate of original shows and movies.

All of this is a huge move by YouTube, and its parent Google, to compete with entertainment content subscription services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Spotify and Amazon Prime. But will this attempt be successful, and will it prove to be useful not just for consumers, but for organizations hosting content on YouTube as well? Only time will tell.

Priority of The Day

Here’s yet another sign of the mobile-focused times: More than half of Google searches take place on mobile devices.

Google gets 100 billion searches a month, and a majority of them are conducted from screens no bigger than 6 inches. Given that, it should have come as no surprise that in April the search engine began prioritizing mobile-friendly results over mobile-unfriendly sites.

Other Good Reads

“It’s not about the technology, it’s what you do with it.” Over at CMSWire, Doculabs Vice President and Practice Leader Joe Shepley shares his truths about technology today.

Facebook’s Instant Articles are now available to iPhone users. Wired magazine looks at how Facebook rolled out its latest publishing venture.

Boost your leadership skills with this fall reading list, courtesy of Switch & Shift CEO Shawn Murphy, who shared his suggestions on Inc.

Patrick deHahn

By Patrick deHahn

Patrick deHahn is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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